The male and female gametes of plants are produced by haploid gametophytes that alternate generations with the diploid sporophyte, the dominant phase of the plant life cycle in angiosperms. After meoisis, the megagametophyte, or embryo sac, is produced by a small number of mitotic divisions and consists of four distinct cells - the egg cell, the central cell cell, the synergid cell, and the antipodal cell - in characteristic positions within the embryo sac.